Daily Content Archive
(as of Thursday, October 15, 2015)| Word of the Day | |||||||
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windbreaker
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| Daily Grammar Lesson | |
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Quantifying Uncountable NounsAlthough similar in nature to other nouns, uncountable nouns refer to things that cannot be divided into individual units, and that therefore cannot be made plural at all. How do we quantify them? More... | |
| Article of the Day | |
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 The Incandescent Light BulbNow the iconic symbol for an idea, the electric incandescent light bulb was independently produced in the late 1870s by Joseph Swan and Thomas Edison—and perhaps earlier by others. However, Edison has received the major credit for this invention because he also developed the power lines and other equipment needed for a lighting system. Financed by the likes of J.P. Morgan and the Vanderbilts, Edison achieved success using a carbon filament in his design. How do incandescent light bulbs work? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
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 Graf Zeppelin Completes Its First Transatlantic Flight (1928)The Graf Zeppelin was a German, hydrogen-filled, passenger airship—the largest built up to that time. It inaugurated transatlantic flight service in 1928, making its first crossing in 111 hours. During its years of service, it completed 590 flights, including 64 to South America, two to the Middle East, and one around-the-world tour. It was retired from service in 1937, when the Hindenburg disaster brought an end to commercial zeppelin travel. Why was the airship destroyed during WWII? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
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 Evangelista Torricelli (1608)An Italian physicist and mathematician, Torricelli served as secretary to Galileo during the last three months of Galileo's life. Two years later, pursuing a suggestion by Galileo, he filled a glass tube with mercury and inverted the tube into a dish. He noted that some of the mercury did not flow out and that the space above the mercury was a vacuum. He concluded that the variation of the height of the mercury from day to day was caused by changes in atmospheric pressure. What had he invented? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
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 Ill-luck, you know, seldom comes alone.Miguel de Cervantes (1547-1616) | |
| Idiom of the Day | |
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dirty money— Money that is obtained or earned through illicit or illegal means, especially thievery, bribery, forgery, or money laundering. More... | |
| Today's Holiday | |
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 October Horse Sacrifice (2019)In ancient Rome, a chariot race was held in the Field of Mars on October 15. After the race was over, the right-hand horse of the winning chariot was killed as a sacrifice to Mars. There was a fight between the inhabitants of two different quarters of the city to see who could seize the head and place it in a designated spot. As soon as the tail was cut off, it was rushed to the king's hearth so that the blood would fall on the hearth. The rest of the blood was preserved until April 21, when it was mixed in a special ceremony and given to shepherds to burn to purify their flocks. More... | |
| Word Trivia | |
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Today's topic: wristdolman sleeve - One that is much wider at the arm-hole than it is at the wrist, patterned on a Turkish robe. More... rasceta, rascettes - The deep transverse creases across your wrist at the base of the palm are rasceta or rascettes. More... carpus - In humans, it is the group of eight bones that form the wrist and part of the hand. More... wrist - The wrist of the foot is the instep or ankle. More... | |